Sunday, April 15, 2018

Kathy's "BLUES"

THE GREAT "ALASKA BLUES ! "

The first thing that came to my mind was the 35 years I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, and the oh-so-beautiful summer flowers, especially the Alaska State Flower, the "Forget Me Not !" They're stunning in their color(s) and their simplicity. Think of the conditions they have to endure just to produce the leaves and flowers ! And then I thought of the awesome Texas Bluebonnets that are in full bloom right now, and how absolutely gorgeous those flowers are !

I actually have some fabric from Anchorage that depicts the Forget Me Not Flowers, and very reluctantly cut that fabric to make the kind of wild and crazy flowers on my quilt. [When you see the quilt in person, it'll be fun to see how quickly (or not !) you can find the Forget Me Nots!]

All the flowers were cut from blue-ish toned fabrics. I fused 2 layers of compatible fabrics together (Heat and Bond Light), then sort of randomly set the flowers on my base "quilt" and began machine stitching the fabricated flowers on to that quilt. I trimmed the flowers, partially cut each flower into 8 "petals", and then hand-washed the entire quilt. I wanted to get all those petals separated, and add texture to the petals at the same time. After that, I added two colors of blue fabric squares (made from netting !) to add some pizazz and texture.

The backing fabric is Royal Blue fabric with Gold stars, and was chosen in honor of the Alaska State Flag, and the song that we sing with much pride. I end my narrative with the lyrics to this incredibly beautiful tribute to the Greatland - ALASKA !

The photos of your quilt are now in place! It took some doing on my part. For awhile, I feared that somehow my computer and Blogger weren't happy with one another, but I finally got the photos posted. Anyway, congratulations on your Blues quilt! It certainly does reflect the theme word in a beautiful and unusual manner. Love the back, too!

Dear Alice .. Thank you so much for coming to my rescue again ! The photos look beautiful, and help explain why and how I made the quilt the way I did. Much love to you for your kindness and patience with me, my computer, and my iPhone !

Some Super Websites!

The Material Mavens

We are a group of art quilters who come from various parts of the United States, from the East coast and then south to Arkansas and Texas. We were inspired by the original Twelve by Twelve international art quilting group.

Beginning in September, 2011, we started posting our 12"x 12" art quilts, which were based on themes chosen in turn by our members. For Round One, we posted quilts every two months, always on the 15th of the designated months.

Round Two of The Material Mavens began in October, 2014. Some changes were made: quilts were posted every three months, and the quilts could be be either 12"x 12" or rectangular ones measuring 11" x 14", either horizontal or vertical in orientation.

Round Three of The Material Mavens will begin in July, 2018. Again, changes have been made. Now those members who wish to stay affiliated with the group are free to post quilts every time or every now and then. Two, our blog administrator collected suggested themes from the members who wanted to remain affiliated. These themes were then pulled at random from a "hat," and they were then assigned in order for the posting dates. Since we had 13 members who wanted to remain, we will be posting quilts every 3 months until 2021! This date is significant and appropriate, because 2021 will be the 10th year that our group has been in existence.